The circle of life Multi-cache
chase_bc: Moving. No longer able to maintain.
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Difficulty:
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This is a fairly easy, straightforward multi-cache focussed on
education. Each of the 5 stages contains information about the
stages of the salmon life cycle. The cache will be used for
introducing people to geocaching.
If you would like something more unique try:
GC2GCP1 - Diving at Shuswap Lake
Salmon Life Cycle
Like the Olympics, salmon operate on a four year cycle. Every four
years there is a dominant run when millions of salmon return to the
Adams River to spawn. The cycle begins with salmon eggs hatching
and fry emerging. The salmon fry that survive the threat of trout
and other predators spend a year in the lake. The fry grow into
smolts and travel 290km downstream to the mouth of the Fraser and
into the Pacific Ocean and spend around 3 years in saltwater. When
they reach maturity, they swim upstream back to their spawning
grounds at a rate of about 29km per day. The journey from the ocean
to the Adams River takes around 18 days. After fighting strong
currents and rapids, the salmon are bruised and battered. Their
skin has changed to a deep red colour and their heads turn green.
The salmon return to the same place where they began their life to
spawn. The females lay around 40,000 eggs, the males develop humped
backs and hooked snouts. They both guard the nest until their death
and the cycle begins again.
The folklore of fishers and fishing communities is very much a part
of Canada’s heritage. In British Columbia, tales of back
breaking work on treacherous coastal waters began with sockeye
salmon, the first of five species of Pacific salmon to be fished
commercially in the region. Sockeye salmon of North America
originate in fresh water habitats from the Columbia River in the
south to the Bering Sea coast of Alaska. The main spawning area
extends from the Fraser River to Alaska’s Bristol Bay. Most
sockeye in British Columbia and Yukon spawn in late summer or fall
in lake fed systems; at lake outlets, in lakes, or in streams
flowing into lakes. Major spawning runs of sockeye are found in the
Fraser, Skeena, Nass, Stikine, Takuand Alsek watersheds as well as
those of the Smith and Rivers inlets. Young sockeye may remain in
their fresh water nursery lakes more than a year, with some waiting
for the second or third year to make their seaward journey. Once in
salt water, British Columbia sockeye seem to move north and
north-westward along the coast. Their maturing years find them in a
huge area of the Pacific Ocean extending west to approximately the
International Date Line (2600 miles from the coast of Vancouver
Island), north to the northern Gulf of Alaska and south to the
Oregon – California border. Sockeye salmon return to their
home streams to spawn as four or five year old fish after two or
three years at sea. However, some sockeye mature earlier and return
to their streams as “Jacks” at three years of age. They
enter their rivers, streams or lakes of origin from May through
October with southern stocks tending to arrive later than those in
the north. At full growth, sockeye salmon average 3 kilograms in
weight and 84 centimetres in length. They are caught commercially
with purse seine, gill nets and trolling gear. First Nations use
traditional nets, weirs and gaffs; while sport fishers are able to
catch sockeye with spoons or bait.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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